I. Introduction
The purpose of this research is to find out the main environmental forces which affect decisions regarding to Apple Inc. and also to find out who is the target customer for this product, how this brand is being positioned at this target segment. And explain how the elements of the marketing mix are used to position this product.
II. Background
We chose Apple Computer Inc. brand because it is a multinational corporation that produces computer software and consumer’s electronics. Apple was found by Steven Jobs in California. Their first product was the Apple I with one board computer which was sold for about $650. Then they brought out the Apple II with a keyboard, colour monitor. Now company is well known products are “iPod,
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The micro-environment of the company includes: “suppliers, intermediaries, competitors, customers, and publics.” The micro-environmental forces of the company contain “potential entrants”. Apple has to make sure to have a high barrier to enter the market and keep low cost of unit production to avoid new entrants to the market, so they can’t get a greater profit. Another force is competitors and “the competitive rivalry”. The biggest competitor of Apple Inc. is Samsung Company. They have very similar products. It gives a high influence on Apple because substitutes can make customers switch to another company like …show more content…
Ipads, iPods and iPhones have touch screen. Therefore they are very easy and simple to use.
V. Product positioning strategy
This establishes a unique position for the product in the consumer’s mind.
Apple has put itself to be a lifestyle product for prosperous people with good jobs. Everyone wants an Apple product but they are not so cheap, not everyone can afford to buy it. This first class positioning helps Apple in the future. When inflation dramatically rises up, more people tend to buy Apple products in future a lot more. Loyal customers tend to go for apple products no matter the price to show their income status. Having an Apple product has become more important than price.
VI. Brand
Brand is “a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or services as distinct from those of other sellers.”
Apple is a popular brand as they produce products that satisfy the customer’s needs. It makes customers feel self-confident about Apple brand because it adds value of high quality and desirable from its
This has given it apple a competitive edge in relation to its rival. They are able to keep their customers up to date with inform of the updates in the existing products and new product innovations. Apple uses a vertical integration strategy that enables it to develop its software and hard ware apps, and own operating system (IOS). This allows apple to have control over all the users that are hard to replicate by its rivals (Meyer, 2012). Brand appeal of apple by
Apple states in their Form K-10 Report (2017, p.1) they are “committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through innovative hardware, software and services.” In an Industry where profit margins are low, technologies are constantly evolving and competition is high it is essential that Apple continues to offer innovative and simple products that increases customer experience (Heracleous, 2013) so to maintain a competitive advantage. A variety of tools have been used to evaluate Apple’s external and internal environment, including the PESTEL (Appendix 1), Porter’s Five Forces Analysis (Appendix 2), SWOT (Appendix 3). It is envisaged that the information derived from these tools and the associated analysis will support Apple’s CEO to make strategic decisions that addresses the challenges ahead in the short term, ensuring Apple can be competitive in the long term (Rothaermal, 2017).
Part A Macro environment is important factor affecting the development of enterprises. A macro environment is the condition that exists in the economy as a whole, rather than in a specific sector or region.(Macro Environment n.d.) Cultures, politics, technology, nature, economy and demographic are the six major forces in the company 's macro-environment.(Kotler & Armstrong 2014, p96) Political factors Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules.(PEST Analysis n.d.) All the companies have to follow these rules.
Q1a. MARKET STRUCTURE OF APPLE INC Apple Inc. operates different types of market structure in terms of their different products. In the smart phone business, they happen to be one of the major players with their different models of the “iphone” which makes them operate in an oligopolistic market. Oligopoly arises when there is an imperfect competition in which there are just few firms producing similar products. As a result of high competition, monopolies, interdependence among firms there are just a few big players having the market power and making it very difficult for new firms to penetrate the market with their products.
Apple Inc., an American multinational corporation was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 197. The headquarters of Apple is located in Cupertino, California and it designs, manufactures and sells consumer electronics, computer software as well as personal computers. (Reference for Businesses) The company's wide range of products and services include the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a variety of consumer and professional software applications, both the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud and several other product accessories. Apple not only offers a variety of mobile communication, media devices and portable digital music players but they provide a variety of related software, services, networking solutions
Apple Company Apple Inc. is a private company, and it is one of the world 's most famous technology and computer companies, located in the United States of America. It is a multi-national company. Its main business depends on specialization in manufacturing, producing, developing, improving and selling software, smartphones, computers; It has a series of electronic devices, such as iPad, iPhone and Mac. The origin of Apple Company Founded by Steve Jobs and his co-pilot Steve Wozniak, Apple Computer was able to design a computer in the form of the beginning of Apple computers in the time period Between the years 1981 to 1985; since 2005 until now, Apple has seen many developments; successive successes.
has millions of buyers and the company continues to woe more consumers to buy its products. The threat to buyers is not a big concern to Apple Inc. The competition on this area falls on the pricing system and differentiation of products to meet the unique needs of the consumers. The move to differentiate the products of the company aimed at addressing the diverse needs of the consumers (Bergvall-Kareborn and Howcroft 2013, p.280).
In the assignment, it will discuss the sports brand Nike which specifically focuses in Chinese market. There are three main content areas in this assignment. The first part is a macro environmental analysis; the next part is the target customer profile; the last part is the analysis of marketing strategies. Macro Environmental Analysis: Nike is a very well-known market leader. It is an international brand, their products are selling in the worldwide including China.
In this way, the sale of products in world-wide market will increase. • Increased labor costs in China could take away the cost advantage of some Apple products. • Decaying middle-class incomes in some developed countries, including the United States, could shrink the potential market for higher-end consumer goods such as those marketed by Apple. • A strong U.S. dollar could increase exchange rates, making it more expensive for Apple to do business in key markets like Europe and
External Analysis: Microenvironment Introduction The two major competitive factors controlling the external environment are the Macro and the Micro environments. While the Macro deals with the PESTLE affects, the Micro environment deals with the current structure of the industry and the effect of the roles played by the giants of the industry. Figure A-1 The Microenvironment includes the effect of rivalry, suppliers, buyers, distributors and the general public towards the strategy formulation by the company.
2. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT that affect APPLE Co.’s service to customers. 2.1 DEMOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT Focusing
3.0 Macro Environment that Effects Apple Social-cultural, technology, economic, political and legislation is the elements of macro environment that effects Apple which are described as below: 3.1 Social-cultural ITunes is Apple’s biggest virtual media store. In general, the image of the Apple also depicts the modern individual lifestyle, combining function and conception, resulting in brand recognition and commitment. In conditions of the demographic features, Apple is targeting the two major generations. One generation is mainly consists of working adults, where they might sustain a higher and stable income to purchase Apple’s expensive and complex equipment. Thusly, the sophisticated and high-tech Apple products would definitely
Executive Summary On April 1, 1976, Apple Company was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Apple headquarters is located in Cupertino, California. Apple Inc. designs, produces, and sells various media devices (apple.com, 2014).
Requires high investment and capital. In addition, Apple’s ability to continuously differentiate its products from other companies makes it hard to copy their success. Apple also produces at relatively low cost due to economies of scale of wide-spread
Apple, Inc., an American multinational technology company, which founded on April 1, 1976 in California, United States. The company has earned $53 million of income in 2015, which increase $14 million of income compared with 2014 (Apple Inc., 2015). The co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, Steve Jobs is passed away for the pancreatic cancer (Park, 2011). His leadership and entrepreneurship have successfully developed the company from a small personal computer company to a multinational corporation that selling various types of electronic products and software such as, iPad, iPhone, iOS, and others (Apple Inc., 2016). 1.0 Critical Success Factor